Amor Vincit Omnia
by SongSiren
Summary: An old friend of Aqualad's comes to the Titans East. She is timid and seems to be unable to talk. The Titans East take her in, despite having problems of their own. Will the team be able to help her and will Aqualad be able to face his past? AqualadxOc
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I can't say I remember what the Titans East tower looks like, so just go with me when I say the 'common room' is identical to the Teen Titans, and I'll describe other rooms later. Also, I'm not exactly sure how reliable my translations are for Mas and Menos, so bear with me here.**

"**Speaking" '**_**thinking'**_** (Translations)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Bumblebee roughly pulled her brush through her untamable hair. She knew that for all the good it would do, she might as well shake and spray her tresses until they frizzed up into a misshapen afro. Ever since she was younger, she had always tried to smooth her hair to hang about her shoulders, like the 'pretty' superheroes on T.V. did.

Of course, now that she was older, she knew that those 'pretty' superwomen and men were bogus replicas of the true heroes, like her, who risked their wellbeing each day for the sake of those who could not protect themselves. Still, it would be nice…

With a huff, Bumblebee forcefully parted and yanked her hair until two symmetrical puffs rested on either side of her head. No one could pull her hair, she would not set it on fire, and she did not have to worry about it getting into her eyes. It was safe, efficient, and sensible. She nodded, satisfied at her rationalization.

She left her room soon after that, having dressed herself already. She made her way to the common room, where she was sure everyone else already was. Bumble Bee smiled to herself; she may be a superhero, but she was still a girl, and thus had full take-far-too-long-to-get-dressed rights.

As the mechanical door slid back, her eyes narrowed dangerously as they rested on her first victim of the day. It was neither a villain nor a convict nor a person that looked threatening in anyway. It was Speedy, or more precisely, Speedy's shoes, which just so happened to be resting on the table that had been carefully cleaned the day before.

A scowl playing on her face, Bumblebee strode across the room quickly, but with the silent finesse of a tigress stalking her prey. The vibes she was giving off were enough to keep Mas and Menos well away.

She circled around the cough and stood in her trademark hips slanted, arms crossed you're-in-trouble pose. She was blatantly ignored, however, as Speedy was currently too engrossed with his comic book to notice anything around him, much less his impending doom.

She quickly and capably put her booted foot to the edge of the sectional couch and pushed backwards, causing Speedy to fall to the ground with the cough. There was a painful-sounding _thud_. The comic book, which had been thrown in the air in surprise, came floating down peacefully to rest on its owner's face a moment later, unaware that the room was about to be turned into a war zone.

Speedy jumped up, fire blazing in his eyes, "What the hell did you do that for you crazy…"

"Crazy!? Why you little…"

Mas and Menos rolled their eyes at their companions' antics. Knowing that this ultimately pointless argument, the younger teens silently excused themselves from the room.

Together, Mas and Menos entered the hallway and elevator. Mas pressed the button and looked to his brother.

"Pasaje? (Arcade)" he asked his brother.

"(But I'm hungry. I want pizza)" Meno replied, rubbing his rumbling stomach.

The boys grinned and called out their standard, "Mas y Menos cinco devos!" and raced out of the towers as the elevator's door opened.

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"WHAT THE HELL!"

Mas and Menos sighed. They had left early enough to miss Bumblebee and Speedy yelling at each other all morning for random annoyances, and had returned just in time for the teammates to recede into annoyed silence. Unfortunately, this was just around lunchtime.

With 'normal' people, lunchtime was usually a quick, social event. However, with this group of teens, lunchtime could just as easily be turned into a war zone; especially when Speedy indulged in his favorite apathetic craving: fish tacos.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You're eating my friends!" Aqualad yelled, switching between thrashing his arms about in the air and clutching at his dark hair.

Speedy swallowed a rather large bite of the offending food before looking at Aqualad skeptically, his feet once again on the table (thankfully Bumblebee was absent at the moment). "Yeah? If they're your friends, what's this one's name?" He then proceeded to throw the half-eaten taco at Aqualad, hitting him squarely on the nose.

Aqualad let loose an enraged (and very unmanly) yell before running from the room, most likely going to wash the food off. It was at the moment he reached the door that Bumblebee chose to make an appearance. As he rushed past her blindly, her put her hands on her hips and turned her gaze upon Speedy, knowing from past experiences that he was most likely to blame.

"What happened?" she demanded.

Speedy shrugged uncaringly. When she swept she turned her stare to Mas and Menos, they withered under the heat of her glare until they were forced to speak up.

"(Speedy bought fish tacos again!)" they cried in unison, knowing that she probably could not understand them.

"I don't know what they said, but it had you in it," she said stormily.

"So what if it did?" Speedy said, standing from where he had been seated on the couch.

They stood, staring at each other for a few minutes, the tension mounting, before the door pulled back again, revealing Aqualad. He turned his hard gaze about the room for a few moments.

"I'm going out, I can't take it here anymore!" he announced before turning sharply on his heel and walking out.

**A/N: Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Teen Titans, there would definitely be more Titans East in it.**

The team stood in shamed, awkward silence for a few minutes after Aqualad had left. Things had been edgy for awhile with the group, and now all the tension finally came to fruition.

Bumblebee's mouth thinned to a line. "You know guys, Aqualad's right. Things have been really hectic lately and we all deserve a break." She smiled, "Let's all go out and do our own stuff on the town. It'll make us feel better." She paused and added uncertainly, "And hopefully Aqualad will be back when we return."

As her companions ran out, Bumblebee sighed, running her hand through her hair. How did the other Titans do it? They seemed to get along so well, even though their team was made of total opposites. Here, it seemed everyone grated on everyone else's nerves. She knew her team worked well together when fighting, but were they truly friends? She had thought so before, but lately the thin bonds of their friendship had been fraying. The recent rash of violent robberies did not help.

Bumblebee shook her head. Opening a window, she flew out. Hoping that the city could stay safe for a few hours, she whirled her wings and set off at a fast pace towards the west; she knew exactly who could help her.

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Bumblebee nervously twiddled her fingers, staring at her clasped palms in her lap. The city had been fine while she had been visiting the Titans West, but she had returned to a home of three distraught faces (four if you counted Tramm, but she only saw the odd little mutant for a few moments before he raced down to his lab). Aqualad had not yet returned.

Her trip to the Titans West had been quite unsuccessful. She had asked Robin the team about her team's problems and her fears, but they had stared at her blankly. Finally, it was Robin who spoke gently, as if trying to explain something to a child.

It was the disappointing response she had been half-expecting, "Friendship and trust isn't something you can just expect to happen; you're team will come together, and start learning each other's behaviors. Don't get me wrong, you'll still fight," everyone around the table had cracked a smile at this, "but it won't be as vicious." With a few more words of encouragement, she had been sent on her way.

She worried if the fish taco thing had pushed Aqualad too far. Although he had left around lunch, if was dark now (albeit just barely) and he had been gone for hours. Had he simply left, back to his home in that dank cave he had described so many times before? No, he hated that place; it was cold and smelled of mildew. At any rate, he would not have left without Tramm, and they would have heard if Aqualad came back to retrieve him.

Everyone in the room jumped when the loud echo of the doorbell resounded into the room and throughout the Tower. Bumblebee exchanged looks with her teammates (all that morning's animosity had been forgotten while everyone worried). Had Aqualad come back? Why was he using the doorbell?

Bumblebee moved before any of the boys thought to. She flew down the steps (instead of taking the slow elevator) quickly. She hesitated for a moment before opening the rarely-used front door. Was Aqualad trying to use this as a way of saying that he was no longer part of the team? Could she forestall that by simply ignoring the call?

The timid tap at the door brought Bumblebee back to her senses; whatever happened, happened and she had to deal with that. Shaking, she turned to doorknob to reveal not Aqualad, but a young woman.

Bumblebee was shocked; how had she gotten here? Then she noticed that the girl's dark brown hair (which even now Bumblebee could tell was curly) was plastered to her head and face and her clothes stuck to her thin body unnaturally. Had she really swimmed all the way from the mainland? The Tower was not as far from the city as the West Titan's Tower was, but it was still a considerable distance of the river between the cliffs that the Tower was built backed to and the town. It had to be a mile or more, and deep as well.

Still, Bumblebee could not manage to muster up enough sympathy for this girl as of yet; her mind was still focused on her missing teammate, so when she spoke, it was hurried and insensitive, though she immediately regretted her tone. "Can I help you?"

The girl seemed afraid, and took a step back, as if trying to hide in the shadows, thought the light of the building clearly shone on her pale skin. Bumblebee's eyes softened. She stepped towards the girl a little, having the feeling that she would bolt if she made any sudden movements.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed. Come on now," She held out a hand, trying to be friendly. "Do you have a tip for us?"

The girl shook her head. Bumblebee lowered her hand and cocked her head to the side. She quickly examined the girl for cuts or other forms of abuse. The girl's legs were covered by long, dark brown pants as well and light boots that looked far too tight to be comfortable. Her deep purple shirt had draping sleeves that covered her arms well. The front of her shirt was tied up the front with brown rope-like ties from hem to the top, which covered most of her chest as well. A thin, almost imperceptible silver chain rain down her neck to disappear into her shirt. Her palms were covered with a dusky-purple cloth that wound its way up her wrists to disappear in the draping sleeves.

She was completely covered, from head to toe, which made Bumblebee suspicious. Her timid behavior only added to this; Bumblebee had seen a lot of abused girls, and she did not want to see another hurt if there was something she could do to help it. _'Hold on, girl,' _Bumblebee chided herself, _'you're jumping to conclusions.'_

"Do you need help?" she asked quietly.

The girl paused a moment, as if thinking the question over, before shaking her head again. She stepped closer to Bumblebee and pulled on the think chain at her neck. Bumblebee, in turn stepped closer to see what the girl was holding.

It was a locket. The pendant unusually large for the size of the chain, its beautiful silver color stood out against the tattered purple fabric of the bandage-like cloth covering the girl's hand. The girl's thumb drew back, and undid the clasp, and Bumblebee gasped in surprise.

The picture obviously was of the girl before her, in a beautiful blue dress, her dark brown curls flowing down her back. Her arms were crossed and she was standing a bit to the side, as if she had not wanted her picture taken, but Bumblebee could see that her hand was raised with two fingers up in the peace sign, and she was smiling. What surprised Bumblebee, however, was Tramm standing in front of her (though he was very nearly out of the picture; his eyes and the top of his head the only thing cluing Bumblebee in to who he was) and Aqualad beside her, his arm draped casually about the girl's shoulders, a wide, joyful smile on his features.

**A/N: Well, there's chapter two! Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi there!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans; that's the third time in three days that I've had to type that. **

Bumblebee had taken the girl up to the common room and had explained to her teammates that she was a friend of Aqualad's. The girl seemed even more nervous than she had been outside, if that was at all possible. Bumblebee sat her down on the couch and left, saying that she was going for a towel for the still-wet girl.

Now, as she grabbed the fluffy yellow fabric of the towel, she wondered about the girl. Who was she? Why was she not talking? Did Aqualad send her here, or was she looking for him? Bumblebee could feel herself getting worked up as these questions ran through her head like a river.

When she entered the common room, Mas and Menos were speaking rapidly in Spanish to the girl, who looked horribly confused and more than a little scared. Meanwhile, Speedy was right next to her, cutting off any escape route should the girl decide to run, interrogating her as if she was a felon.

A hard look settled on Bumblebee's face as she marched over to the group, pushing her three teammates away. "Stop that! You're smothering her," she pointed at Mas and Menos. "And you're treating her like some common criminal!" she said explosively as she pointed to Speedy.

He shrugged and settled back onto the couch, placing his arms behind his head, "So what if I am? We don't know for sure if she's a criminal or not."

Bumblebee glared at him. "Do you _really_ think she," she moved her body and waved a hand in the girl's direction as the girl shrunk away from the yelling, "is going to do anything to us?"

Speedy spared a glance at the girl and would have agreed with Bumblebee that the girl was not dangerous, but his pride kept him from doing so. Instead he weakly defended his argument, "She could be acting."

Bumblebee rolled her eyes at her teammate's obvious immaturity, and turned around to the girl, handing her the towel. She smiled brightly as she did so, and tried to be comforting, "Here you go sweetie."

As the girl rubbed her face and rung out her hair, which was already beginning to dry into long curls and waves, Speedy cocked an eyebrow at her. "So what's you're name, anyway? We can't just keep calling you girl or," he smirked at Bumblebee, "_sweetie'_"

Bumblebee glared at him, but only halfheartedly. She, too, was curious of the girl's name, among several other things. As the four teammates stared expectantly at her, the girl looked about the room. As the amount of seconds of quiet stretched, the girl seemed to become more and more distressed until after nearly a minute, she burst out in tears.

The teammates looked at each other, alarmed and unsure of what to do. The girl was nearly silent in her sobs and had buried her face in her hands rather quickly. If it was not for the quaking of her shoulders and the obvious torment she was under a few seconds ago, they would have never been able to tell anything was wrong.

Speedy was the first to react. "Well go on, comfort her," he said, looking at Bumblebee expectantly.

"What?" Bumblebee asked dumbly; she still was trying to figure out why exactly the girl was crying in the first place.

"You're a girl, you're supposed to be good at this emotional crap," Speedy replied indifferently.

Bumblebee's temper flared again. "Why you sexist pig!" she shouted, getting closer to him and preparing to yell a good deal more.

Before Bumblebee could utter another word, however, Mas was between them. "(Stop! You are scaring her!)" he pointed to the girl, knowing that they could not understand him.

The girl's legs were drawn up against her chest and she was eyeing the pair fearfully from behind her fingers. Bumblebee immediately felt guilty; she seemed terrified.

Opting to leave Speedy alone for now, she moved to sit next to the girl, who shrunk away. "There, there. I'm sorry for yelling."

The girl seemed to relax a bit, but she was still far too tense. Bumblebee put a hand on her shoulder, and smiled reassuringly. In return, she received a wavering turn of the lips; this girl obviously did not smile often.

Speedy snapped his fingers, drawing attention to him. "I know!" he exclaimed as if he had reached some major breakthrough. He grinned widely, "Let's call her Aquagirl!"

He received glares from everyone in the room, save the girl. She, in fact, seemed more bothered than ever, on the verge of tears once again. Bumblebee fought the urge to draw the poor girl into a hug. Instead, she squeezed her shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting way.

"Hey, don't listen to him, he's just being his normal idiot self," she ignored Speedy's outraged cry as she continued, "Aqualad's not here, but I'm sure he'll be back soon." Bumblebee tried to not let her uncertainty show on her face. Instead, she tried to be as hospitable as possible. "Are you hungry?"

The girl shook her head wildly, sending a few drops from her still-damp hair Bumblebee's way. Suddenly, the girl's face contorted. She scrunched her nose unattractively for a moment before her mouth opened into a wide yawn, which she tried to cover with both hands.

"Oh!" Bumblebee exclaimed as she remembered yet again that the girl had swam across a river to get to the cliffs of the Titans East Tower. "I'm sorry! You must be exhausted. Let me get a blanket for you, and some pillows."

Without waiting for a reply, Bumblebee was off again, this time to retrieve a pale yellow blanket and two small pillows from a closet in the hallway. When she returned, the girl looked overwhelmed and came around the couch. She pointed to the floor and tilted her head to her hands, gesturing that she would sleep on the floor.

"Oh hell no," Bumblebee responded loudly.

The girl shrunk back a bit, cowering against the couch. Although Bumblebee would have liked to say she was gentle and gracious and completely nun-like when dealing with people, the truth of the matter was that she was only human… or close to one, at least. The strings of her patience were quickly fraying, though it was through no fault of the girl's. It was just that not being able to talk to someone, as the girl obviously either could not speak or could not speak their language (which would raise a whole new set of questions, as she clearly seemed to understand it), made interacting with said someone much more difficult. And with the girl in a delicate state, apparently ready to run should anything take a slight turn for the worse, made it twice as tricky.

Therefore, it took quite a bit of effort for Bumblebee to speak softly. "Dear, there is a perfectly good couch right here," Bumblebee motioned to the couch.

The girl looked at the couch and cocked her head slightly before seeming to understand. She took the blanket and pillows from Bumblebee's grip. As the Titans East (minus one member) watched, the girl made a bed out of the couch, meticulously smoothing the blankets and fluffing the pillows. When she had finished, she stepped away from her work and bowed to each individual the room, even Mas and Menos, who were most often viewed as a pair. She motioned to the couch and then to Bumblebee.

Bumblebee, who had started to smile at the girl's understanding, suddenly frowned. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand…" she trailed off.

The girl looked crestfallen .She pointed once again to Bumblebee then the couch, and then motioned 'sleep' again with her hands. Bumblebee nearly groaned when she realized what the girl was thinking. She thought Bumblebee wanted to sleep on the couch.

Finally, nearly an hour later, Bumblebee was able to crawl into her bed. The girl had been so confused, and when she finally understood that she was to sleep on the couch, she seemed almost afraid to touch it. Finally, the team had left her with the pillows and blanket folded neatly on top of the coffee table with her sitting on the couch, blankly staring out of the window. Along with calls of goodnight to the girl, both Speedy and Bumblebee offered encouraging words concerning Aqualad, telling her that they were sure than he would be home soon.

However, now that Bumblebee sat alone in her bed, staring up at the dark ceiling, she was not so sure. Although other members of the team often went out long past this time (including Mas and Menos), Aqualad had always come home before sundown, and always made sure that at least Bumblebee would know that he had his communicator on him, even if she did not know where he was going. He had not picked up any of the eight communicator signals Bumblebee had sent out over the past few hours.



Aqualad rolled his shoulder muscles wearily. He had spent a surprising amount of time on land today, mostly sitting in parks and such. He stared up at the darkened Tower apprehensively. He knew that if he was not there in the morning, his team members would most likely call in the Titans West. Not only would that be embarrassing, it would show the Titans West that his level of maturity was not where it should be for a Titan. He sighed heavily as he opened the door, wincing as it creaked loudly.

Before going to bed, he stopped in the kitchen. He had not had anything to eat since breakfast, and though the thought of the fish tacos still made his stomach churn, he was hungry enough to eat anything, even that odd purple goo that no one seemed willing to touch.

He lucked out, however, and was able to find an apple. Taking a generous bite out of it, he began walking down the hall, towards his room. As he passed the coomon room, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar and there was a small amount of light coming from in the room. He frowned. Did somebody stay up waiting for him? He slid the door back manually, instead of waiting for it to slide back on its own, and entered the room.

As soon as he stepped inside, someone lying on the couch sat up quickly. He had seconds to realize that the back of the person's head did not look like one of his friends. He tensed, ready to call out if needed, as the person turned around.

Aqualad's eyes widened and his stomach flipped. He felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on him. Her face… even though it had been years, he still recognized her face.

"Nerina."

**A/N: Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well we got a name!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.**

Aqualad blinked stupidly. The girl he had been sure he would never see again was standing not five feet away from him, her hands wringing the loose fabric of her purple shirt. He tried to say something, but his tongue seemed tied. He chanced a look up at her dark eyes. All his apprehension melted away, however, when he saw that she was silently crying.

Two seconds later, he was across the room and hugging her as if they had seen each other yesterday. Nerina stiffened in his arms, but relaxed after a moment. She returned the embrace, sliding her arms around his waist and leaning her head against his shoulder.

Aqualad could have stayed like that forever, and likely would have, if his shoulder did not suddenly become warm. He backed away, and Nerina fell to her knees, using her hair to create a veil between herself and the world, and covering her face with her hands. Aqualad stopped, resting his bodyweight on one knee and he attempted to pry Nerina's hands away from her face.

She fought weakly against him, her nails digging into her forehead as she sobbed silently. Aqualad was able to move one hand away before he caught her eye, and abandoned his mission entirely. Instead, he merely moved to sit beside her, draping an arm over her shoulder, as her shoulders quaked.

He did not know how long it was that they sat there before he heard quiet footsteps in the hall. As the door noisily slid back, he looked up to see Bumblebee standing in the doorway, looking completely drained, and clutching a fluffy terrycloth robe close to her. Without a word she exited the room to the kitchen.

There were quiet sounds as cupboards opened and closed and he heard the microwave being used. When the leader of his team returned, she handed him a cup of warmed milk and a small pill. She motioned to give them to Nerina. He raised an eyebrow questioningly before offering the pill and milk to Nerina.

She hesitated for a moment before taking the pill and swallowing as much of the milk as she could. It saddened Aqualad that, after all these years with no contact, she still trusted completely. He held her close and stroked her hair. Minutes later, her breathing evened out and she was asleep.

Aqualad easily lifted her and gently deposited her on the couch, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders like a parent. He paused a moment to stare fondly at her face before turning about to go to his room, even more exhausted than earlier. However, his already-dreaming mind was roused roughly at the sight of Bumblebee with her arms crossed, looking at him expectantly. He sighed.

This was going to be a loooong night.

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Bumblebee led Aqualad back to the kitchen, so they would not wake up the girl. The pill was meant to put her to sleep, and the warm milk… well that was just something Bumblebee's mother had done for her as a child. She did not know if it actually worked or not, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Regardless, the girl must have been exhausted to have fallen asleep that quickly.

She leaned against the counter, sipping a glass of ice water in an attempt to wake herself up some more. Aqualad entered the room and sank into a chair, sighing heavily. He looked up at her as if he were a naughty child, and Bumblebee was the unhappy mother that found him with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Look, Bee, about earlier…"

Bumblebee shook her head. "Don't worry about it. We all go crazy and need a break sometimes."

Aqualad was surprised; Speedy had come in three minutes after curfew when Bumblebee had gone on her need-to-establish-power phase and she had yelled at him for hours, and then he had to endure the frosty silence that all girls seemed to have had mastered for the next two days. Of course, that was Speedy, and his and Bumblebee's relationship had always been a bit weird. Still, he suspected there was something more behind Bumblebee's sudden compassion.

"So," Bumblebee paused, giving Aqualad room to fill the gap. When he did not, she asked outright, "Who's the girl?"

Aqualad felt the beginnings of a migraine coming on. He _really_ did not want to deal with this right now. It was no secret that his team's dynamics were… less than favorable. The day had caused his nerves to be on edge and he was ready to either snap at someone or pass out on the floor. Whichever opportunity presented itself first.

"Her name is Nerina. She's a really good friend of mine." He glanced towards the door, as if he could see through the walls and across a hallway to see the girl sleeping on the couch. "Why's she's grounded…" Bumblebee raised an eyebrow at his term, and he chuckled lightly, "back home in Atlantis, we would call going above sea level 'landing', 'surfacing', 'grounding' etcetera." He continued, "I don' understand why she's here, of all places."

"She's looking for you," Bumblebee said. "She showed me a picture of you, her and Tramm in a locket."

Aqualad raised an eyebrow. "She still has that old thing? I gave it to her years ago. A birthday present, I think."

"Can she talk?" Bumblebee asked curiously, still perplexed by the girl's silence.

"Of course," Aqualad answered quickly. "She just… doesn't talk around new people."

Bumblebee placed her hands on her hips. "Isn't she a little old to be shy around new people?"

Aqualad's eyes darkened. "Yeah well," he started before looking away. "Just leave it alone," he muttered.

Normally, Bumblebee would have done just the opposite and questioned him farther, but her talk with the Titans East today encouraged her to keep her mouth shut… for now, anyway. Instead, she stretched and yawned exaggeratedly.

"Well, I'm tired. You going up to bed?" she asked casually.

Aqualad stole one more look at the wall to the living room, then nodded. "Yeah."

**A/N: Review!**


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